EFG Succession Planning Forum 2020

Marc-André Sola is a serial entrepreneur. He started his first company at the age of 20 and has since founded, or co-founded, a number of businesses in different fields and in multiple countries. Mr. Sola holds a Masters of Law degree from the University of Zurich and serves on the board of various companies. He specializes in insurance and retirement planning, as well as tailored asset protection and estate Tax planning solutions. For over 20 years, he has been advising clients from all over Europe, North & South America, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Mr. Sola is a sought after speaker at international investment, asset protection and estate planning conferences worldwide. Furthermore, he has published a variety of professional articles and co-authored the book, The Insured Portfolio, published by John Wiley & Sons (2010). He is a member of YPO (Young Presidents Organization), Zurich Chapter.

Before joining EFG as Senior Managing Director, Head of Private Banking, Richard Straus was Managing Director and Market Head responsible for Bank Julius Baer's Taiwan customer franchise. Originally from the United States, he has lived and worked in Asia for nearly 20 years. He moved from Citi Private Bank where he headed up the Asian Family Office and Institutions business to Bank Julius Baer. Prior to that, Richard was in charge of Citi's offshore and onshore private banking activities for Taiwan. His 29 year banking career includes senior sales and product management roles as well as CFO and COO assignments in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and the United States. Richard has a bachelor degree from Haverford College (PA, USA) and an MBA from Washington University (MO, USA). He has been a CFA charter holder since 1998. He is a member of the New York Society of Securities Analysts, the Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts, and the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute. Richard resides in Hong Kong with his wife. He has two adult children, who live and work  in the United States. He enjoys hiking, skiing, cooking and playing the guitar.

Rohit Ganguli is the Head of Wealth Planning Asia at EFG Bank, he has two decades of experience working with clients to assist them in achieving their wealth planning objectives especially in relation to succession, legacy and asset protection needs. This often involves the use of trusts, foundations, corporate entities and other holding vehicles. Rohit is responsible for all aspects of the insurance activity in EFG in Asia. This involves supporting all insurance related discussions – including identifying life insurance referral opportunities based on clients’ wealth and liquidity planning needs, extensively interacting with external counter parties (such as insurance brokers and carriers) and also actively engaging with related stake holders within the bank. He manages all discussions around single family offices (SFO) and works closely with clients on the benefits and processes involved in the set up of SFOs. Rohit has a background in accountancy and also holds a Master’s degree in International Tax Law from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He is a registered trust and estate practitioner (TEP) and holds a diploma from the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and is also certified with the Singapore College of Insurance. He has worked across geographies and has been with Big 4 consulting firms and MNCs prior to joining the bank.

Oliver is a banking professional with more than 25 years of experience as a senior banker and leader of high performing private banking teams. His guiding principle to success is his client centric approach and his deep understanding of cultural diversity. Oliver has been in Asia for most part of his career and his responsibilities and coverage span beyond Switzerland and London. He has also developed and expanded the private banking business of a banking institution in London and was responsible to setting up the private banking department of a newly created bank in Singapore beside managing his own clients. As a senior banker, Oliver has lead several successful team of private bankers with clients located in Europe, South East Asia, India, South America and segments such as the External Asset Managers and Global South Asian. Oliver holds a degree from the University of Lausanne Switzerland, an MBA from Cass Business School London and a specialisation from both the London Business School and Columbia Business School New York. Oliver is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Before assuming his current role, Alfonso held a variety of roles within Wealth Planning at EFG, as well as serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the Group’s Italian fiduciary company in Italy. Prior to that, he worked for UBS in the area of Wealth Planning where he assisted top-tier global family office clients. Alfonso is a member of the Advisory Board on Tax Planning at the Banking Association’s Studies Centre in Vezia, Switzerland, and Trust and Estate Practitioner at the Swiss STEP branch. He also lectures on international taxation, estate and Wealth Planning at renowned universities or institutions and has published several articles on international tax and wealth planning matters. Alfonso hails originally from Milan, Italy. He holds an M.Sc. in Law and Business Administration and an LL.M. in Tax Law from Bocconi University, Milan, and an Adv. LL.M in International Tax Law from Leiden University in the Netherlands, among other qualifications. His early career was in law in Italy, focussing on international corporate tax matters, and during those years he also spent the latter two years working to help HNWIs in their estate planning affairs. While at UBS in Switzerland, he worked as a wealth planner for Italian clients, later becoming team leader, and in 2015, he joined BSI, which was later to be bought by EFG. “I then became deeply involved in the integration of BSI within EFG,” he reports. “The two banks had different models of wealth planning, so the choice was to merge the two different teams with different priorities and different people, and we emerged being in line with the Swiss model. I have been leading the team ever since the 2017 integration was completed.” More recently, Alfonso has joined as Wealth Planning representative the bank’s “Top Deal Team” which focuses on UHNW client cases to be served in a dedicated and tailored manner, being Wealth Planning a key area for such clients. Alfonso is married and has two young children of six and four years old. In spare time he still enjoys music, and indeed almost took that route as a career, as he is also a professionally trained orchestral conductor and violinist. “Music remains a passion of mine and I play both violin and piano, when possible,” he says. “And another love is sports or classic cars, especially English or Italian ones…”

Peter serves as the CEO of Asia and is responsible for supporting a timely and effective execution of IPG’s key strategic initiatives. A Hong Kong native, Peter began his career at Wells Fargo Bank in 1984 before leaving as Vice President and Branch Manager in 1996. Peter returned to Hong Kong and joined HSBC’s Personal Banking Division driving the bank’s business development initiatives in Southeast Asia. He was subsequently transferred to Singapore in 1999 to lead the advent of alternative distribution channels for HSBC as SVP Head of Distribution. From 2005-2007, Peter also served simultaneously as Head of Agency Management for HSBC Insurance in Singapore. In total, Peter has over 33 years of experience in the financial/insurance industries in US, Hong Kong and Singapore. Prior to joining IPG, Peter was the CEO of Willis Towers Watson, Global Wealth Solutions in Hong Kong.

Max has over 8 years of high net worth nancial services for the Greater China region and strategic consulting experience in the United States. Prior to joining IPG, he was an Associate Director at an international insurance brokerage business focusing on wealth planning solutions for high net worth individuals and listed corporations. Max joined IPG in 2016 and is focused mainly on the China and Taiwan markets. Prior to his time in the high net worth financial services industry, Max was an associate of KPMG Los Angeles, where he provided business advisory services to Fortune 100 companies. His clients include leading banks, insurance companies, and asset management firms. Max holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.

Reuben has more than 14 years of experience in the financial services industry, with the last 10 years focusing on advising high net worth and ultrahigh net worth client’s on their wealth planning needs with internationally-sourced life insurance solutions. Reuben began his career within the Audit division of Deloitte and Touche London, where he was assigned to various projects for a range of UK based corporations. He then moved into a business development and portfolio servicing role at Alexander Forbes Financial Services focusing on UK based life insurance products. Prior to joining IPG, Reuben was a Director at an International Broker, mainly focusing on clientele from European and Indian descent residing in South East Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa. He was instrumental in acquiring and developing new institutional relationships in the UK and Middle East that helped to grow the private client services business. Reuben received his Bachelors of Science (Honours) in Medical Science from the University of Birmingham, UK. He then completed a course on the principles of accounting from the London School of Economics and graduated with a Masters of Science in Accounting and Finance.

Oliver is a banking professional with more than 25 years of experience as a senior banker and leader of high performing private banking teams. His guiding principle to success is his client centric approach and his deep understanding of cultural diversity. Oliver has been in Asia for most part of his career and his responsibilities and coverage span beyond Switzerland and London. He has also developed and expanded the private banking business of a banking institution in London and was responsible to setting up the private banking department of a newly created bank in Singapore beside managing his own clients. As a senior banker, Oliver has lead several successful team of private bankers with clients located in Europe, South East Asia, India, South America and segments such as the External Asset Managers and Global South Asian. Oliver holds a degree from the University of Lausanne Switzerland, an MBA from Cass Business School London and a specialisation from both the London Business School and Columbia Business School New York. Oliver is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Reuben has more than 14 years of experience in the financial services industry, with the last 10 years focusing on advising high net worth and ultrahigh net worth client’s on their wealth planning needs with internationally-sourced life insurance solutions. Reuben began his career within the Audit division of Deloitte and Touche London, where he was assigned to various projects for a range of UK based corporations. He then moved into a business development and portfolio servicing role at Alexander Forbes Financial Services focusing on UK based life insurance products. Prior to joining IPG, Reuben was a Director at an International Broker, mainly focusing on clientele from European and Indian descent residing in South East Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa. He was instrumental in acquiring and developing new institutional relationships in the UK and Middle East that helped to grow the private client services business. Reuben received his Bachelors of Science (Honours) in Medical Science from the University of Birmingham, UK. He then completed a course on the principles of accounting from the London School of Economics and graduated with a Masters of Science in Accounting and Finance.

Peter serves as the CEO of Asia and is responsible for supporting a timely and effective execution of IPG’s key strategic initiatives. A Hong Kong native, Peter began his career at Wells Fargo Bank in 1984 before leaving as Vice President and Branch Manager in 1996. Peter returned to Hong Kong and joined HSBC’s Personal Banking Division driving the bank’s business development initiatives in Southeast Asia. He was subsequently transferred to Singapore in 1999 to lead the advent of alternative distribution channels for HSBC as SVP Head of Distribution. From 2005-2007, Peter also served simultaneously as Head of Agency Management for HSBC Insurance in Singapore. In total, Peter has over 33 years of experience in the financial/insurance industries in US, Hong Kong and Singapore. Prior to joining IPG, Peter was the CEO of Willis Towers Watson, Global Wealth Solutions in Hong Kong.

Marc-André Sola is a serial entrepreneur. He started his first company at the age of 20 and has since founded, or co-founded, a number of businesses in different fields and in multiple countries. Mr. Sola holds a Masters of Law degree from the University of Zurich and serves on the board of various companies. He specializes in insurance and retirement planning, as well as tailored asset protection and estate Tax planning solutions. For over 20 years, he has been advising clients from all over Europe, North & South America, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Mr. Sola is a sought after speaker at international investment, asset protection and estate planning conferences worldwide. Furthermore, he has published a variety of professional articles and co-authored the book, The Insured Portfolio, published by John Wiley & Sons (2010). He is a member of YPO (Young Presidents Organization), Zurich Chapter.

Rohit Ganguli is the Head of Wealth Planning Asia at EFG Bank, he has two decades of experience working with clients to assist them in achieving their wealth planning objectives especially in relation to succession, legacy and asset protection needs. This often involves the use of trusts, foundations, corporate entities and other holding vehicles. Rohit is responsible for all aspects of the insurance activity in EFG in Asia. This involves supporting all insurance related discussions – including identifying life insurance referral opportunities based on clients’ wealth and liquidity planning needs, extensively interacting with external counter parties (such as insurance brokers and carriers) and also actively engaging with related stake holders within the bank. He manages all discussions around single family offices (SFO) and works closely with clients on the benefits and processes involved in the set up of SFOs. Rohit has a background in accountancy and also holds a Master’s degree in International Tax Law from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He is a registered trust and estate practitioner (TEP) and holds a diploma from the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and is also certified with the Singapore College of Insurance. He has worked across geographies and has been with Big 4 consulting firms and MNCs prior to joining the bank.